dChan
Anonymous ID: 3329c8 March 23, 2019, 10:13 a.m. No.5847340   🗄️.is đź”—kun

Japan and China to open talks on foreign infrastructure projects amid warming ties

 

Japan and China have agreed to launch talks to facilitate cooperation on infrastructure development projects in third countries amid a recent thaw in bilateral relations, diplomatic sources said Friday.

 

The inaugural meeting is being arranged for April or May in Beijing, before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Japan in June for the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, according to the sources.

 

The launch of talks comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is shifting toward conditional cooperation with China despite Xi’s “Belt and Road” initiative to build infrastructure networks in Asia and beyond, which has raised concerns over the possibility Beijing could pull many developing countries into its economic orbit.

 

When Abe visited China last October, he and Xi agreed on the need to discuss how best to cooperate on infrastructure projects in third countries.

 

Kazuya Nashida, director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s International Cooperation Bureau, is expected to lead a Japanese delegation for the meeting with senior officials from the China International Development Cooperation Agency, according to the sources.

 

It remains to be seen how much China and Japan, the world’s second- and third-largest economies, can cooperate in developing infrastructure in third countries, including those along the ancient Silk Road that runs from China to Europe via Central Asia.

 

Critics say some developing countries that have borrowed heavily from China are reeling from excessive debt burdens.

 

Japan has been vigilant against China’s attempts to increase its economic influence in the region even though recent months have seen the two countries warming to each other amid trade friction between Beijing and Washington.

 

Some Japanese government officials say the upcoming dialogue should not be a forum for the giant initiative.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/23/national/politics-diplomacy/japan-china-open-talks-foreign-infrastructure-projects-amid-warming-ties/

Anonymous ID: 3329c8 March 23, 2019, 10:16 a.m. No.5847380   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>7578

AT&T, Viacom continue contract negotiations past deadline

 

Reuters) - MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and other Viacom Inc channels were still available on AT&T Inc's DirecTV satellite TV service on early Saturday morning as the companies continued to hash out a new carriage contract.

 

It was not immediately clear if a deal could be reached, sources briefed on the matter said. AT&T and Viacom declined to comment.

 

The previous contract, in which AT&T paid Viacom about $1 billion in fees annually, expired at midnight Friday. Failing to reach a deal means Viacom channels would not be available to AT&T's 24.5 million customers.

 

These types of conflicts have become increasingly common amid waves of media consolidation and the migration of viewers from traditional pay television services to streaming TV services such as Netflix and Amazon.

 

The current discussions have weighed on any potential tie-up of CBS Corp and Viacom, both of which are controlled by the Redstone family's National Amusements Inc.

 

Viacom had begun warning AT&T subscribers on Tuesday that its channels could stop being shown on the DirecTV service if it failed to reach a new contract by midnight on March 22.

 

Viacom, owner of MTV, Nickelodeon, BET and Comedy Central, accused AT&T of abusing its powers after buying Time Warner Inc, which owns the Warner Bros Hollywood studios and HBO premium cable network.

 

AT&T has said Viacom channels are no longer as popular as they once were and accused them of being a "serial bad actor" in contract renewal negotiations.

https://www.marketscreener.com/CBS-CORPORATION-14804/news/AT-T-Viacom-continue-contract-negotiations-past-deadline-28216079/?countview=0